Henry Bolton contemplates the end of his career as Ukip leader yesterday. He lost a no-confidence motion by 63% to 37%CHRISTOPHER FURLONG

Ukip installed its seventh leader in less than two years yesterday after a vote of no confidence in Henry Bolton, whose reign descended into chaos after it emerged that his 25-year-old girlfriend had sent racist text messages about Prince Harry’s fiancée, Meghan Markle.

The party gathered for an emergency meeting in Birmingham yesterday to decide on the fate of the former army officer, with another former leader, Nigel Farage, signalling his support and saying the party faced “self-destruction” and “irrelevance” without Bolton.

A decisive majority of members voted to oust Bolton, however, making his 142 days the shortest tenure since Diane James quit after just over a fortnight in 2016. He was defeated by a margin of 876 votes to 500 (63% to 37%) despite…

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